Media Fabricate Obama Sex Joke

The media have jumped into the gutter by twisting President Obama's straightforward joke about people cheating at pushups into a suggestion that he made a sex joke.

At a fundraiser in Los Angeles, Obama said that talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres gets teased about Michelle Obama beating her in a pushup contest on her show. Obama said that DeGeneres tries to claim that the first lady doesn't do complete pushups, but that DeGeneres shouldn't feel bad, because Michelle "outdoes me in pushups as well."

From the June 7 edition of CNN's Early Start:

OBAMA: I want to thank my wonderful friend who accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in pushups. [laughter] But I think she claims Michelle didn't go all the way down. [laughter] That's what I heard. The -- I just want to set the record straight. Michelle outdoes me in pushups as well. [laughter]

The White House pool report on the fundraiser said it was "a line that he let hang, naughtily, provoking laughter from the crowd." BuzzFeed seized on this description and put up a post headlined "Did President Obama Just Make A Blowjob Joke?"

The headline on Politico's post currently asks, "Obama's joke?" However, the URL indicates that the post originally described it as a "risqué joke."